I have a bigger issue with Siri starting and think that Chas should still be in there (unless I missed it and he is hurt? Still don't know why Diaz PH for him yesterday). I am good with Maldy starting the game, but I think they should PH with Castro the instant there is a big situation with him AB. If that is in the 3rd inning, then so be it. However, there is a risk in doing that when we did not carry a 3rd catcher on the roster
Eovaldi will start again but the question is how effective will he be and for how long. Cora's "all-in" move could cost the Sox 2 losses this series. I pretty much chalked up Eovaldi's next start as an L but now not so much.
Damn just noticing that today’s game is the early game. Between work and judo practice am likely going to miss the whole game. So far the Stros have done well when I’m not watching them so maybe that brings more luck tonight
Maldy will hit a HR this game. My dog told me so after she pissed on the laminate and before I was about to beat her ass. I told her I would hold off on beating her ass until after today’s game if she’s wrong.
Martín Maldonado did not appear to know what was coming ... mostly wrong location but at least one wrong pitch.
Did Brent Strom just say that an Alex Cora coached team might know what pitches are coming their way? Very curious.
Madly already had a big hit. Castro is not that much better if even at all. A change is not going to break the space time continuum or anything. I'd rather have Maldy calling the game and throwing out runners. Stay the course.
I don't know that Cora is as good a manager or leader as someone like Kevin Cash.... but Cora can do things that very few people can do. He can pick up on tells, steal signs etc. and only a few people in the game can do it as well as he can. We all have heard the media talk about how strong Beltran is at it..... but the guy that I have always heard from people IN baseball that is the best at it is Chase Utley..... I have had numerous people tell me that he would steal signs, get tells and generally do anything to cheat at a level that was above everyone else. I know that the Astros had to change their signs 4 times in a single game against the Dodgers because of Chase Utley.......... on the pitching side Maddux was the best "cheater" on the planet when it came to the intellectual and cheating side of the game.... he never got caught doing it either....... but not far behind was Orel Hershiser who was a master cheater and also broke down hitting tendencies at a level that was exceptional. There are some guys viewed as "idiots" that were intellectually brilliant at the mental and cheating part of the game....... Manny Ramirez was brilliant. He would purposely strike out on particular pitches to set up getting the same pitch again later in the count or crucial parts of the game.
Diaz went in to face Eovaldi because Diaz is hit some crazy batting average verse high 90's to 100 mph fastballs. The number was like .435 (don't quote me). That's what Astro deep analytics look for. If the ump doesn't call the 2nd strike that was a ball maybe Diaz comes through. All good anyhow because they still won. As far as Siri starting who knows could just be DB going with his gut.
Siri has a lot of energy, sometimes it’s too much. Remember when he tried to overrule the first-base coach and send Yuli to second even though the ball was like three feet away from the infielder? Lol. Siri is crazy.
Why? It's common and completely legitimate in baseball for players to look for tells in pitchers. The Astros did it in 2019 in game 5 against Glasnow and the Rays and scored 4 first inning runs.
I won't lie, I would have gone to Eovaldi too. I am sure Cora felt it was only a matter of time before his team scored, and he put his best pitcher in the game to give his team a chance.... the difference between 3-1 and 2-2 against a team like the Astros is pretty large. It isn't like Cora really had a closer either as he didn't even make the ALCS roster. Also Eovaldi is a lot younger than Scherzer and had only gone 5 innings against the Astros in game two and had thrown maybe 80 pitches. Also Eovaldi did it several times in the 2018 World Series with success. Also while Scherzer came through in 2019, he also had a sore arm before warming up so he hasn't responded to it really well. Ultimately it didn't work out well at all for the Red Sox and perhaps it limits Eovaldi going forward..... you figure that on 10/16 he threw 80 pitches.... 10/19 25 pitches.... he would at the earliest pitch 10/22 for game 6 or 10/23 for game 7. So he can go on 4 days rest if there is a game 7....
https://umpscorecards.com/site-data/teams.html According to this Astros have been the most disadvantaged by the umps. Boston the most favored. In the postseason. Astros were also very near the bottom for the regular season
Siri has a lot of physical talent...... he has exceptional bat speed and is a very good athlete. He SHOULD be a starter for a major league team based on his physical talent, the problem is he does have it together between the ears and he also doesn't recognize pitches as well as some of the other players ahead of him.
It's also very common, not saying it didn't happen, for pitchers who get bombed early to blame things on it. Nobody needed to tip a damn thing about Garcia/Urquidy/Greinke, all the Sox had to do was spit on the constant breaking balls that were nowhere near the plate and then sit on the get-me-over FB or breaking ball. It's not like they were laying off of really close pitches. The pitches just sucked.
Eovaldi isn't a demoralizer though like Kershaw, Scherzer, or even Urias. He's a lifetime 4.19 era and sub .550 w-l, who in 2021 was only 3.75 and barely above .500 w-l, He's not a shutdown guy. He's not even feared. The guy generally speaking wins only 6 games a year. 6 lousy wins. It's overhype to think he was going to shutdown the Astros in relief or even as a starter.
